What is it like to live in Tewksbury?
By the locals, it’s pronounced “Tooksbury,’’ but few visitors get it right.
By the locals, it’s pronounced “Tooksbury,’’ but few visitors get it right, said Donny MacLaren Jr. A lifelong resident, he and his father opened Wamesit Lanes, a bowling alley and “family entertainment center,’’ in their hometown in November 2015.
“Nobody can ever say ‘Wamesit,’ either, so we’re used to it,’’ joked the younger MacLaren, who is 31.
Proudly calling himself a “townie,’’ MacLaren is now a homeowner and a first-time father. He said his family was eager to bring a new attraction to Tewksbury, which was once home to an array of old-fashioned amusements: mini golf, a drive-in movie theater, and a go-kart track, among them. “All those things went away and were never replaced,’’ he said.
Wamesit management is also looking into opening an “escape room,’’ the popular adventure game in which participants are required to solve puzzles to find their way out. That, too, would be located in Tewksbury, MacLaren said. “Why leave town if you can do something right in it?’’
As a new father, he’s also starting to think about the school system. They opened the new $68 million Tewksbury Memorial High School in 2012, he said, and now he’d like to see upgrades at the town’s elementary schools.
Speaking of youngsters, Wamesit Lanes has instituted a training program for aspiring bowlers. It’s a little-known fact that many universities offer athletic scholarships for competitive bowlers, MacLaren said.
“It’d be a great day if we were ever able to send some kid to college,’’ he said.
BY THE NUMBERS
1
The number of pneumothorax apparatus that will be on display in a new exhibit at the Public Health Museum. The devices were used to insert air in the chest cavity of tuberculosis patients, collapsing the lung. In theory, that would give the lung time to rest, and the bacteria would suffocate. (Sometimes they inserted Ping-Pong balls to ensure the lung would stay down.) The exhibit opens March 24, World TB Day.
25
The maximum number of incoming high school juniors and seniors accepted each summer into the Public Health Museum’s free one-week program, Outbreak!. The program offers a detailed look at public health in the nation’s first museum dedicated to the subject, housed in the former administration building of Tewksbury Hospital.
$2
The cost of two ounces of real maple syrup at Vic’s Waffle House, a popular classic-style diner on Old Main Street (pictured below). A plain waffle is $5; specialties include the Elvis Waffle, topped with bananas, peanut butter, bacon, and honey ($10.50).
PROS & CONS
Pro
Location
Direct access to Interstate 495, and the onramps to Interstate 93 are only a short hop away.
Con
Suburbanization
In 1950, Tewksbury was a rural farming community with 7,505 residents, according to the town census. By 1990, the town had ballooned to 28,304. (Growth has slowed since: As of the 2010 US Census, the population was 28,981.) Where do they gather? There is no downtown; instead, commerce is mostly along the main road.
James Sullivan can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @sullivanjames. Subscribe to our free real estate newsletter — our weekly digest on buying, selling, and design — at pages.email.bostonglobe.com/AddressSignUp.
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